Not Just Another Progress Report
Okay, it sort of is… but this post is so much more! If you may recall, when I set up my syllabus for gaining Star Wars: Edge of the Empire mastery, my fourth step was to run the introductory adventure from the Beginner's Game. I will come right out and admit that I'm still working on the second step, the complete read-through of the Edge of the Empire core rulebook, but let's be honest… that's a big damned book! I'm about eighty pages in, out of four-hundred and forty, and still plugging away. But between the Beginner's Game and +Marc Plourde's Age of Rebellion intro game Tuesday, I felt completely comfortable giving Escape from Mos Shuuta a go!
I just needed some players!
With the help of Jennifer, my fellow-nerd and wife of nearly thirteen years, I started recruiting for a Saturday game. My daughter Carrie wanted to give Edge of the Empire a try, and had a couple of friends who could be interested, so Jennifer started contacting parents for an afternoon game. Meanwhile, I put out some feelers on Facebook for interested scoundrels, and was delighted to get some interest from the members of my monthly campaign of The Strange. By Friday it seemed like the "grown-up game", to be held on Saturday evening, would be a go! I had all but given up on the kid's game, until two parents contacted Jennifer Saturday morning with a "thumbs up."
So I ended up running Edge of the Empire twice in one day!
Escape from Mos Shuuta, Take 1 (Kids Game)
Cast
- 41- VEX, Droid Colonist, played by Braden
- Lowhhrick, Wookie Hired Gun, played by Isabella
- Oskara, Twi'lek Bounty Hunter, played by Carrie
Following the opening crawl, our three roguish heroes took refuge in Mos Shuuta's dusty Cantina, hoping to lose Teemo the Hutt's goons. Once through the doorway, 41-VEX couldn't help but peek outside, hoping to watch the pursuers pass by. Unfortunately this wasn't the case. One of the club-wielding Gamorreans caught sight of the medical droid, and alerted his fellow thugs to their prey. Oops!
41-VEX stumbled down a few stairs into the Catina and shuffled towards the bar, talking his way past the Devaronian bartender by stating that he was there to provide some medical services. Lowhhrick and Oskara were already hidden by this point. The Wookie tried intimidating a private booth full of Jawas, only to be offered a full mug of frothy beverage. While Lowhhrick sat down, feigning to guzzle, Oskara carefully snuck underneath a crowded table of Sabacc players.
When the Gamorreans entered, they looked around but couldn't find any of their marks. In a huff, all four pig-faced jerks left.
The three heroes needed a way off of Tatooine, and a spare starship could help. Leaving the Cantina, the party headed over to the local Junk Shop. The shopkeeper, Vorn Tel-Ovis, informed the party that while he didn't sell any ships himself, perhaps the party could link up with Trex, a Trandoshan captain of a freighter - the Krayt Fang. Figuring that there was no need to question Vorn further, the team headed over to Landing Bay Aurek.
When the trio arrived at the landing bay there was an unpleasant surprise. A small squad of Stormtroopers were guarding the entrance. The armor-clad soldiers got one look at Oskara, Lowhhrick, and 41-VEX and their leader shouted.
"There they are, blast them!"
Quickly Oskara led the team to the back of the landing bay, hoping to find a hidden entrance. Unfortunately, the path along the edge of the cliff came to a dead end, and the three had to face the stormtroopers. Lowhhrick charged forward and cut down one of the stormtroopers, while Oskara started firing with her blaster carbine. The three troopers didn't last long. After the last one fell, the bounty hunter, droid, and wookie found an access panel leading into the landing bay, and possibly to the Krayt Fang.
Quotes
"Isabella, I kind of like your plan of making bacon out of them!" - Braden was ready to aim 41-VEX's Blaster Pistol at the Gamorrean Guards
"It's Black Friday all over again!" - Carrie shaking her head as the party fought over dead stormtrooper helmets.
 |
| Didn't trust my players around the ships, so I kept them in their boxes |
Escape from Mos Shuuta, Take 2 (Grown-Up Game)
Cast
- Sinoca, Rodian Explorer, played by Jennifer
- 41- VEX, Droid Colonist, played by Jeremy
- Lowhhrick, Wookie Hired Gun, played by Andy
- Oskara, Twi'lek Bounty Hunter, played by Emily
- Pash, Human Smuggler, played by Ethan
This seems a bit like deja-vous.
41-VEX, Lowhhrick, and Oskara were being caused through the streets of Mos Shuuta, but this time around Pash and Sinoca were tagging along. The local Cantina seemed like a great place to hide, so all five heroic rogues slipped into the pourstone building and started looking for places to hide.
The rodian explorer Sinoca wasn't about to get dragged off by Teemo the Hutt's goons. She decided to hide in plain sight, walking right up to a male Mon Calamari patron. In one quick yet seductive movement, Sinoca sat in the Mon Cal's lap and started passionately kissing her new beau. Struggling to keep his breakfast, Pash grabbed his droid companion and headed for the back of the building where a Twi'lek dancer was frolicking. The smuggler offered the woman fifty credits to sneak backstage, but while she accepted, her devaronian boss told her to get back to work. The Twi'lek quickly hid the smuggler and droid into a nearby private booth. Pash and 41-VEX wouldn't be completely out of view, but they'd be better off than out in the open.
The commotion near the stage gave Oskara and Lowhhrick opportunity to hide behind the bar. Oskara jumped over the counter and ran into the storage closet. Lowhhrick was about to do the same, but slipped mid-stride, and smacked his head against a chair. The massive wookie collapsed face down on the floor.
When the Gamorreans entered the Cantina, the lead thug looked back to the rest of his troupe. "What a terrible carpet," the Gamorrean growled. But this carpet had teeth.
Just when the four Gamorreans passed the "rug", Lowhhrick slowly rose from the ground, and engaged his vibro-axe. The wookie dueled with a cudgel-weilding, pig-faced goon one-on-one, but couldn't last long if the odds were to shift. 41-VEX decided to even those odds. The medical droid pulled his blaster pistol and started laying down suppressive fire into the group of Gamorreans. The green creatures scattered about the Cantina's chamber, looking for the shooter.
The medical droid's wild blasting not only caused grief for Teemo's thugs. Lowhhrick had to shift back to avoid getting hit, and Oskara, having just emerged from the storage closet, was forced to dive to the ground and then crawl through broken bottles and burning alcohol. One of the guards made his way to 41-VEX, and jumped onto the private table right in front of Pash. Sinoca may have been passionately engaged with an attractive Mon Calamari gentleman, but she was also keeping an eye on the scene. Pulling her own blaster, she carefully aimed at the Gamorrean, and took him down. Between Pash, Oskara, and Lowhhrick, the other goons were dispatched quickly.
The devaronian bartender was less than pleased at the scene, and begged the party to leave the cantina. Pash asked the bartender about the Krayt Fang, a vessel that the smugger hoped to steal from the low-down dirty Trandoshan slaver, Trex. The bartender revealed Krayt Fang was stuck in Landing Bay Aurek with a broken down hypermatter reactor ignitor. Perhaps the part could be located at the local junkyard. The party left the bar, and Sinoca gave her Mon Calamari paramour one last kiss before strutting out.
At the junk shop the characters met Vorn Tel-Ovis. The gruff shop keeper revealed that he indeed had a spare hypermatter reactor ignitor, but that it was promised to the trandoshan Trex. The smuggler Pash smiled and stated that the party was there to receive the part for Trex. Buying the story, Vorn agreed to hand over the part, but stated that he was waiting for payment. There was some negotiation, and even an offer by Vorn to trade his beat up R5 droid for 41-VEX to help with the trade. Pash declined to give away his dear friend, and Sinoca was able to haggle down the price to something a bit more reasonable.
Once they had the part, the five rogues wanted to keep it hidden as they traveled to the landing bay. Oskara noted that there was a store called Offworld Traders nearby, and headed in looking for a backpack or satchel. Bengara, the twi'lek proprietor, seemed delighted to see another face from Ryloth. The two struck a very pleasant conversation, and even came to more than fair terms for a fine leather satchel. As Oskara left, she noticed that a pair of gangsters entered the establishment. They were Teemo the Hutt's men, but they weren't looking for Oskara, rather they were collecting from Bengara. The bounty hunter had the opportunity to stop the encounter, to make things difficult for Teemo's gang. But Oskara wasn't about to stick her blaster where it wasn't needed.
"Have a lovely day, gentlemen," Oskara whispered with a smile, as she left the store.
With the Hypermatter Reactor Ignitor carefully tucked into the satchel, our five heroes headed to the Landing Bay. When Pash stated that the team was there to deliver a part, the guards let them through the doors and into a large operations center. The docking officer even ordered some old pit droids to take the part from the party.
And then an Imperial Lambda Shuttle landed.
The presence of Imperials could lead to complications, so the party excused themselves, stating that they had left the part outside. In the courtyard south of Landing Bay Aurek, Pash, Lowhhric, 41-Vex, Oskara, and Sinoca argued about their next course of action… until a team of Stormtroopers exited the landing bay building.
There were only four armored soldiers, but the party knew better than to engage Imperial forces in a direct confrontation. They were about to leave when the stormtrooper commander pointed to Pash. "There's one of them," an electronically enhanced voice shouted. "Get him!"
Oskara pulled her blaster carbine and started firing at the stormtroopers while Lowhhrick did what he did best, pulling his Vibro-Axe and snapping into action. One of the stormtroopers was instantly dropped by the twi'lek bounty hunter's blaster bolts, and the wookie knocked the commander's blaster rifle from his hands, sending it clattering down the stairs. But the remaining stormtroopers aimed their sights on the party's bounty hunter, filling her full of burning scorch marks. Sinoca and Pash started firing wildly at the stormtroopers, while 41-VEX made his way to to Oskara (who was still firing), and started filling her wounds full of healing gel.
When the last stormtrooper fell to his knees, Pash ordered his team to their feet and ran back inside the Landing Bay. The docking officer didn't even notice the fight outside, so when Pash announced that they indeed had the Hypermatter Reaction Ignitor with them, the pit droids were called for again. This time 41-VEX had a slight adjustment to make. Taking one of Sinoca's stun grenades, the medical droid rigged a pit droid to act as a "walking bomb". One slight slice to the droid's protocols, and it was ready to greet some of the visiting Imperial stormtroopers.
As the pit droid marched towards the Lambda Shuttle, the rest of the party rushed the beat up YT-1300 known as the Krayt Fang. The last one to leave the control room, Sinoca carefully flipped the docking restraints keeping the light freighter from taking off, so the only thing stopping the party was the Trandoshan Trex.
Coincidentally, he was walking down the cargo ramp just as the party arrived.
They could've negotiated with the slaver, or tricked their way on board the Krayt Fang. Perhaps Pash could've made a deal for Trex's life. In a regular Star Wars movie, this would've been a much different encounter…
… but in Edge of the Empire we keep it real!
Before Trex could pull his own blaster pistol, he was executed by firing squad.
Once on board the Krayt Fang, Pash made his way to the command deck and spun up the vessel's engines. 41-VEX had the Hypermatter Reactor Ignitor, and within moments the part was back in place. As the Krayt Fang pushed up through the clouds, Oskara and Sinoca, both curious at the contents of their new vessel, discovered Trex's cabin. The dirty room had all sorts of treasures and artifacts adorning the walls, and a large, bulky, wampa-skin rug on the floor. But as the women turned to leave, the "rug" started to stand. Apparently Trex had a pet.
[Credits]
Quotes
"Find me a… dude… who might be into my kind." - Sinoca scanned the room looking for a willing partner to make out with.
"I'd like to see him try to get past me!" - Emily was letting Oskara's badassedness go to her head.
41-VEX - "Sand… it gets everywhere."
Pash - "You gotta listen to the surgeon. He's taken sand out of … places."
