X-Wing Flight Report 6 - Vader Shot First

A Promise of Darth Vader

On May 4th we held a big Star Wars Day party at our house, and a few games of X-Wing were played.  During our second flight, we played with the TIE Advanced for the first time, but it was a "grown up" game, which meant no kiddos.  Evie, our resident TIE Fighter fanatic, was a little bummed that she didn't get a chance to take the TIE Advanced out for its maid voyage, so I promised that we would set up another game soon.  Last night, in a pre-bedtime battle, she had her chance!  

My eldest daughter Carrie wasn't about to be left out, and she seemed interested in trying out Boba Fett and Slave I, so I grabbed the miniatures and worked up a quick battle.  Just before we were about to play Evie asked if I was going to wear my Han Solo costume.  I picked it up a few weeks ago for a work function in Atlantic City (70's costume party… figured this was 70's enough), but I've been wearing it every chance I get for two reasons:

1. My wife thinks I look cute wearing it.
2. It's a friggin' Han Solo costume!

Game 10

What if Boba Fett helped Darth Vader hunt down Han Solo and Luke Skywalker?  Slave I and Vader's TIE Advanced take on the Millennium Falcon.  

• Imperials (Carrie & Evie):  Slave I, TIE Advanced
• Slave I:  Boba Fett
• TIE/A:  Darth Vader
• Rebels (Jim):  Millennium Falcon
• Millennium Falcon:  Han Solo
• Upgrades:  Millenium Falcon, Cluster Missiles, Marksmanship, Chewbacca, Luke Skywalker

First off, if our pairings are making any of you X-Wing veterans cringe, let me apologize now. So far I've only played this game inside my family and cliques, and therefore haven't had a chance to face off with any advanced players.  Balance-wise, I think the girls only had me by 3 or 4 points, but given my choice to load the Falcon with every possible option, I thought I'd have a fighting chance.  Technically I gave Evie some advice on "how not to get shot down" mid-game, but for the most part they made their own decisions.  

I will say this:  Carrie would be absolutely devastating if she was as interested in this game as she was Minecraft!  

We started off simple enough… an open star field

The Falcon shot past Slave I and the TIE Advanced, and I took advantage of the YT-1300's ability to shoot in a 360 degree arc.  I was only able to land glancing blows on Slave I, but I caused Evie some serious distress!

The Millennium Falcon and Slave I would make several passes against each other during the night.  In hindsight I should've been keeping Boba Fett on a 90 degree angle… 

… while my 360 arc was working great on Darth Vader, it wasn't helping me at all to have Slave I directly ahead of behind.

Eventually we ended up in this crazy "loop" for a few turns.  I won't bore you with four pictures of ships trading places… but just imagine this same picture over and over again, as all three ships made a gentle turn around themselves.  Lame!

Since it was getting late, I decided to turn in towards Slave I and go for another strafe of Fett's ship.  Big mistake!  Carrie and Evie had been plotting each round, and I think they realized that I wanted to get the game moving, so they planned to have both fighters convene on my position.  Darth Vader took down the shields Chewie had just repaired, and Boba Fett destroyed the Millennium Falcon!  

Victory

Both girls were thrilled with the results of the evening.  It was a fitting end to a terrific weekend, and while I was sad that it was getting late, I knew another rematch wasn't far .  

As I packed up my gaming stuff I just sat there for a few minutes… and pondered the demise of Han, Luke, and Chewie.  What would the Rebellion be without them?  

So sad… 

Under Strange Suns - Session 4 - a Sherlock Holmes/Dark Sun/Star Wars Campaign

Making Wookie Noises

Last night was one of those games that makes me truly grateful to be a gamer.  Assemble a terrific group of people in a room, let them create some interesting alternate personas, and work together to create a memorable story.  We were a little late starting our game last night, however, and I have my wife to blame.  Early in the evening I gave the party instructions to select Star Wars inspired foci for their characters.  There was a great diversity of characters:  a clawdite sniper, a force-sensitive Jedi, an ace pilot, a rogue slicer, and a… uh… Jen?  

While everyone else was picking their characters, my wife Jennifer was busy cutting cheese… literally.  It has become a ritual that our table be set with copious amounts of cheese and alcohol before each game, and Jen was working on the spread while everyone else was generating foci.  So I decided to choose for her.  Grabbing In Translation, the Character Options book for The Strange, I found "Hurls Boulders".  That would make for a great wookie, right?

When Jen sat down I asked her to make the "wookie noise" - the sound that Chewbacca makes when speaking Shryiiwook.  Jen couldn't pull it off!  So we went around the room and let everyone give their best Chewie impression.  Some were great (Jeremy and Ethan)… some not so great (I won't list any names, but pretty much everyone besides Jeremy and Ethan).  But Jen's was by far the worst.  I can't describe the sound… but it was pretty much a guttural voiced guy saying "heeeeey!"  

The group couldn't stop laughing, and I still get a chuckle whenever I think about her making that impersonation.  Maybe one day I'll share it with you all… since I got it on video.

Jen making wookie noises

Agents of the Estate

• Barbara "Babs" Goldstein, a Strange Paradox who … 
• Works the System on Earth
• Shepherds the Dead on Ardeyn
• Casts Spells on Athas (Elven Preserver)
• Works the System on Dantooine (Slicer)
• and is played by Emily
• Jacqueline Dingo, a Skeptical Spinner who … 
• Solves Mysteries on Earth
• Embraces Qephilim Ancestry on Ardeyn
• Focuses Mind over Matter on Athas (Human Psionicist)
• Throws Boulders on Dantooine (Wookie)
• and is played by Jen
• Arlo Coulton, a Graceful Vector who … 
• Is Licensed to Carry on Earth
• Carries a Quiver on Ardeyn
• Fights Dirty on Athas (Mul Gladiator)
• Infiltrates on Dantooine (Clawdite)
• and is played by Jeremy
• Chuck Lannigan, a Stealthy Spinner who … 
• Operates Undercover on Earth
• Channels Sinfire on Ardeyn, 
• Crafts Powerful Poisons* on Athas (Half-Elf Bard)
• Defies the Laws of Physics** on Dantooine (Jedi)
• and is played by Andy
• Dr. Sybil Holloway/Ka'cha Kano'kek, a Lucky Paradox who …
• Conducts Weird Science on Earth
• Embraces Qephilim Ancestry on Ardeyn
• Hunts with Great Skill on Athas (Thri-Kreen Ranger)
• Pilots Starcraft on Dantooine
• and is played by Ethan 

* Crafts Powerful Poisons is out of Ninth World Assassins by Metal Weave Games
* Defies the Laws of Physics is out of The Translation Codex by Ryan Chaddock Games

Emily and Ethan are so well behaved

Adventure Summary

Miss our last session?  Here's the report!

Our valiant unit of Estate Agents were assembled in the cockpit of the Ebon Hawk, the famous freighter made popular by Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, preparing to land on the planet Dantooine.  Their orders were clear: seek out the Benedict Cumberbatch version of Sherlock Holmes and join forces to end the reign of the Robert Downey Jr. version of Sherlock Holmes on the recursion of Athas (AD&D 2nd Ed.'s Dark Sun).  A relatively new recursion, Dantooine consisted of the Ebon Hawk in orbit, and a few hundred square kilometers of idyllic green landscapes.  Sherlock Holmes was rumored to be pursuing the power of the Force, with Dantooine's Jedi ruins serving as a "training ground" of sorts.  But before ace pilot Dr. Sybil Holloway could land the massive transport, alarm klaxons blared out.

"Warning!  Incoming Sith fighters!"

A pair of sleek craft bore down on the Ebon Hawk, strafing the freighter with laser cannons, only breaking off at the last second  The party's resident nerd, Chuck Lannigan, knew that fighters could easily outmaneuver the bulky freighter, so he ran to one of the gun turrets.  Taking a seat in the top turret, Chuck carefully aimed the twin lasers on the trailing fighter.  When the fighters noticed that they were under fire, they changed tactics, aiming for the turret.  

A loud boom shook the Ebon Hawk and the ship's computer ominously stated "Hull breach." Dr. Sybil toggled the ship's status screen and took note that the last blast took out the top turret completely.  Jackie Dingo, now in wookie form, quickly unstrapped herself from a flight seat and ran back to the turret access port.  The emergency seal was engaged, and through a tiny window the Skeptical Spinner saw poor Chuck Lannigan, holding on for dear life with his legs dangling out into space.  The only reason the Stealthy Spinner was still alive was the emergency oxygen mask that he managed to get on his face before breathing vacuum.  Quickly closing off the rest of the compartment, Jackie secured herself to one of the nearby rails, and opened the access port.  Air vented out from the hull breach, and Jackie tossed a spool of rope to a very grateful Chuck Lannigan.  Once the door was sealed, Arlo entered the chamber.  There was still one turret left, and the Graceful Vector planned to put it to use.  

While Arlo peppered the Sith Fighters with laser blasts, Dr. Sybil put the Ebon Hawk into slow spin, hoping to evade any more direct hits.  Hoping to do her part, Babs Goldstein was already at the communications terminal.  On Earth Babs was an expert computer hacker, so it was only natural to translate the same abilities to the recursion of Dantooine as a Slicer.  Carefully bypassing the encrypted communications network, Babs sliced the autopilot system on the lead Sith Fighter.  The Strange Paradox was now in complete control of one of the small craft!  

Chuck Lannigan was an enigmatic Jedi in this recursion, and hoped to use some of his telekinetic ability to crash one Sith fighter against another.  Although he exerted some control on the flight surfaces over a Sith craft, he wasn't able to pull it off course.  But Babs was!  With a loud cheer from the communications station, Babs Goldstein directed one of the Sith Fighters to crash into the other.  As the two craft crumbled in the upper atmosphere of Dantooine, Dr. Sybil guided the craft towards a small landing port on the main continent of the planet below. 

Although Dr. Sybil enjoyed her time behind the flight yoke, she couldn't help but notice that the descent seemed scripted. Controlling the Ebon Hawk reminded her of riding the Turnpike cars at Kennywood Park.  The recursion of Dantooine appeared to be a full-sized world, but in truth was nothing more than a young creation of fictional leakage.  Settling for the only village that had a landing platform, Dr. Sybil carefully landed the large freighter on a concrete platform.  

The small village, comprised of less than two dozen buildings, was both futuristic and medieval.  Plastic and steel walls were as common as thatched roofs.  As Dr. Sybil powered down the Ebon Hawk's systems, a pair of village security guards approached.  Rolling down the passenger-side window, the Lucky Paradox leaned out and smirked.

"Hey!  Yinz seen Cumberbatch anywhere?"

The two guards looked at each other quizzically, and looked back at Dr. Sybil.  The Estate Agents didn't have a landing permit, or any other documents to show their business here on Dantooine, but they were able to convince the guards that they needed to get some information in town.  The guards led the agents to a nearby alfresco-style Cantina, and told them that "Zimmber," the owner of Arwi village, would be with them shortly.

Zimmber was an intimidating pirate, dressed in tough leather armor with laminate shoulder pads, and a heavy blaster pistol strapped to her hip.  As she approached, Chuck took note that the pirate bore a lightsaber scar across the left side of her face.  Her eye was noticeably fake, and a poor reconstruction.

Being the smart-ass that she was, Dr. Sybil couldn't help but blurt out.  "What happened to you, you freak?"

In a flash, Zimmber pulled her heavy blaster pistol and shot Dr. Sybil in the belly.  The Jedi Chuck Lannigan drew his own weapon, a shiny vibrosword, and meant to cut off the the pirate's blaster barrel.  

He missed.

In a terrible turn of events, Chuck missed the blaster and instead chopped off Dr. Sybil's left hand.  The Paradox doubled over in pain while Jackie Dingo rushed to her side.  Zimmber raised an eyebrow at Chuck's actions, not realizing that this turn of events was an accident.  

"I like the way you move," the pirate informed the Jedi. 

With a shrug, Chuck asked about any other Jedi that could be on the planet.  Zimmber revealed that there was a recent visitor who had taken up residence in an ancient Jedi monastery only a few miles from Arwi.  As the party looked towards the distance, they saw the structure resting on top of a hill.  They also heard an ominous song play in the background.

Come to think of it, the Estate Agents realized, the Star Wars soundtrack had been playing ever since translating to the Ebon Hawk.  The background music played during the dogfight, and during their interaction with the guards.  It must have been a feature of the Dantooine recursion.  

Strange.  

Bidding Zimmber adieu, the party quietly formulated a plan to travel to the monastery.  Of course they could've taken the Ebon Hawk to the hill, and then make an attempt to land in a nearby field, but that would be too easy.  Instead, the Estate Agents decided to steal a whole fleet of speeder bikes, and then ride out.  Dr. Sybil kept insisting that they just steal one large speeder that could fit everyone, but no one else seemed interested.  

On Dantooine, Arlo Coulton was a shapeshifting Clawdite sniper.  Noticing that there were several speeder bikes, as well as a large speeder, parked outside of the cantina, the vector observed a new patron hover up.  As soon as the patron got off the craft, Arlo took his form, mounted the speeder bike, and sped off.  Although they couldn't shapeshift, Jackie and Babs did the same, each taking their own speeder bike.  

Dr. Sybil still wanted a large craft, so she sat down behind the controls of the big, luxury class speeder with a convertible top.  As she pulled off Chuck jumped in but was spotted by a local guard.  Dr. Sybil gave the craft more power, but the guard was riding a six-legged lizard at high speed.  The guard took some cable, made a lasso, and threw it around Chuck's head.  The Jedi rolled and struggled with the cable, but managed to pull it off before getting yanked to the ground.  Rather than face off with a town guard, Dr. Sybil simply chose to outrun the lizard.  Only a few moments later, however, Dr. Sybil heard a familiar sound.  Above the speeder was the Ebon Hawk!  The ship pitched to the right, and the pirate Zimmber was clearly seen behind the controls.  With a smirk, the one-eyed woman took off. 

The ancient Jedi monastery was an impressive scene.  A simple stone and steel structure, it rested nearly five hundred feet off the ground, atop a beautiful green hill.  The stairs leading to the doors were steep and dangerous.  This didn't stop Jackie Dingo from "pulling a Rocky!"  While the rest of the Estate Agents carefully climbed up (Chuck going so far as to use the Force to walk up the hill rather than the stairs), Jackie raced to the top as fast as she could.  Once there, the wookie turned and raised her arms in triumph!  Noticing that the doorway was left ajar, Jackie strolled into the monastery alone.

By the time the rest of the agents got to the top, they saw Jackie's wookie form sitting on the last step.  

"This is not the monastery we are looking for," Jackie meant to say.  Instead the party just heard "yaarghaarraahaggha!"  [GM's note:  As I said, Jen can't speak shryiiwook very well… she sounds like a moose dying.]

Believing that the Jedi-Benedict Cumberbatch version of Sherlock Holmes must be nearby, Arlo Coulton used his clawdite shapeshifting to take on the form of Martin Freeman - the actor who plays Dr. Watson on the BBC Sherlock Holmes.  Entering the ancient Jedi monastery, "Dr. Watson's" appearance certainly got Holmes' attention.  Immediately a light switched on, and Arlo saw a brown-robbed Benedict Cumberbatch sitting in the corner.

It took Sherlock Holmes only moment to see through the ruse.  Knowing that Dr. Watson did not have the spark in his home recursion, and having seen all of the Star Wars movies before translating to Dantooine, Holmes immediately concluded that Arlo was an agent of the Estate.  Knowing that they could not hide their intentions from such a mastermind, the rest of the team slowly shuffled into the room and revealed their mission - taking down the Robert Downey Jr. version of Sherlock Holmes on Athas.  

Cumber-Holmes agreed that he could be of some assistance to the Estate, and promised to help so long as he was allowed to returned to Dantooine upon the mission's completion.  The mysteries of the Force were extremely fascinating, and Holmes believed it to be the last, great riddle in the universe.  Holmes invited the agents into the monastery, and gave them a tour of some of his experiments.  One of his imaginings was a way to translate large artifacts from one recursion to another, with a limited life-span of course.  For instance, Holmes stated, he could potentially translate the party's Ebon Hawk into Athas "as is", possible for as long as an hour.  Arlo Coulton revealed that he had uncovered an artifact in the Victorian 221B Baker Street recursion, used by the "other" Holmes, to protect items from translation, and bring them from one world to the next completely intact.  Holmes believed that he could definitely do something with the artifact… after tea.

Having tea in a garden with the Benedict Cumberbatch version of Sherlock Holmes on the planet Dantooine was a surreal experience for everyone.  Babs sipped her tea while dreamily staring at her "future husband", while the rest of the party quietly took in the sights and sounds of this world.  For a moment, Chuck Lannigan believed something to be awry, but the feeling passed…

… until the loud concussion of a blaster rung out!  

The Estate Agents quickly turned their attention to the far side of the garden, and heard an ominous, mechanical voice.

"Mockery:  “One less meatbag!  If you have seen one… you have seen them all.”

A crimson-metal assassin droid clutching a heavy blaster rifle, flanked by a small troop of similar constructs, descended down cables into the garden!  The droid's words didn't make sense at first… until the agents turned their gaze to a screaming Babs Goldstein.  The tough attorney cried out in despair as she cradled the dying body of Sherlock Holmes!  

The assassin droid stepped towards the party, blaster leveled on Chuck Lannigan. 

"Statement:  “You are all wanted dead... Are there any last requests that I can deny in a snarky manner?”  

Jeremy, Andy, and Emily updating their Dantooine Foci

Quotes from the Table

"Babs is so happy right now… she cannot control her joy." - I don't know if it was the character Babs or her player Emily that was more excited to meet the Benedict Cumberbatch version of Sherlock Holmes in the game.  

"I can't make that noise… I'm gonna sound like Andy!" - Jen on making the Chewbacca noise.  Andy sounded SO much better.  

"I need to go find my future husband!" - Babs upon translating to Dantooine

Jim - "Where would you like to land?"
Jeremy - "On top of Benedict Cumberbatch." 

"How many 1's is that tonight?!?" - I said this… I think there were at least eight. 

Jim - "So you cut off Dr. Sybil's hand!" 
Jeremy - "Now it's Star Wars!" 

Sherlock Holmes - "What do you want?"
Babs - "Your hand in marriage."

New Stuff

New Artifact - Sherlock Holmes' Lightsaber

I don't know if I'm sold on these rules or not… but they seemed suitable for a short stint in the Star Wars universe.  This didn't even come up during Session 4, since the party took a while to get to the Monastery and engage Sherlock Holmes.  

• Level 7
• Form:  Metal handle with green energy beam.
• Effect:  
• This weapon is considered "Light", however it inflicts 7 points of damage.  
• Using a Lightsaber is dangerous to one who has not spent time mastering the weapon.  Each swing requires the user to spend 1 point of Speed or Intellect to use "safely".  Should they choose not to do so, if they miss their target they inflict 6 damage to themselves.  
• A Lightsaber can be used to carve through material of the same level or lower. 
• Depletion:  1 on a d10

Solo pose!

Rasterperch Keep - A Numenera/Ravenloft Adventure - Session 1

Encounter at Rasterperch Keep

Long ago, during my Dungeons & Dragons years, I played a lot of Ravenloft.  Even though I think I'm a crappy horror GM, I've regularly shared my fondness for gothic horror RPG's.  When I was playing AD&D 2nd Edition in high school, my friends and I would light candles, burn incense, and put on creepy music while we explored the Demiplane of Dread.  

Did you know that the 7th Guest CD had a soundtrack?  It was pretty wicked!  

During my 3rd Edition days I had the opportunity to be a player in Expedition to Castle Ravenloft, written by Bruce Cordell (The Strange).  In 4th Edition I ran over a hundred sessions of "Ravenscape", a Ravenloft/Planescape hybrid campaign, for several high-school buddies via Skype and Maptool.  Despite endless hours spent journeying into darkness, I never grow tired of the twisted setting and its cast of nightmarish villains.  

Recently I was trying to think of a way to get some Ravenloft spirit injected into one of my existing campaigns.  I have a 25th Anniversary Edition of the original Ravenloft adventure, updated for AD&D 2nd Edition just sitting on my shelf, and it would be a shame not to break it out.  Actually, I've never run the original Ravenloft adventure, and while I featured the legendary Strahd Von Zarovich in Ravenscape, he spent most of the campaign as a party ally.  

Since my Tuesday night Numenera campaign wrapped up Pulse, there was room in the schedule to kickoff a new adventure path.  Sure we could've waited for the release of the Cypher System Rulebook before trying our hands at horror, but I'm impatient.  So I decided to kickoff a completely reskinned version of the original Ravenloft adventure, chock full of Ninth World flavor!  My goal was to do a "Spot Hack" of the adventure.  I've done this before, back when I ran "Isle of Dread" using pulpy Steampunk heroes in Clockwork.  The process of Spot Hacking is pretty simple:

1. Pick an old school adventure using a familiar system
2. Re-write/reskin the plot to have it fit the new setting
3. Make up the rest of the stuff on the fly

Okay, okay, there is a bit more planning involved.  I went through both the Numenera and The Strange Bestiaries picking creatures that would be a good fit for Ravenloft.  When we encounter a scene in the adventure that calls for a type of creature, I can easily replace it with something more appropriate.  Even the more supernatural denizens that I grabbed from The Strange can be given a quick, far-future, extreme makeover.  Sure there are a few rules and creatures that I need to come up with on the fly, so keep an eye out for the "Campaign Notes" that I'll include at the end of each adventure.  Fans of the original Ravenloft will definitely notice a lot of similarities, but be prepared for even more twists.  

This is something that you should DEFINITELY try at home!

Without further ado, let's start with Expedition to Castle Ravenloft… er… I mean Encounter at Rasterperch Keep!

Characters

• Chase Rombek or Raa-em, a Mystical Nano who Sees Beyond or a Mad Nano who Wields Power with Precision, played by Frank
• Jak, a Mutant Glaive who Constantly Evolves, played by Craig
• Glyquorg, an Exiled Jack who Controls Animals, played by Andy
• Ralyx, a Mlox Jack who Throws with Deadly Accuracy, played by Marc
• Takkorek, a Slaker Nano who Entertains, played by Jeremy
• Garren, a Varjellen Glaive who Studies Anatomy, played by Andreas

Non-Player Characters of Note

• Modorianna:  Muleni catamaran captain
• La Dama:  The hive-minded, antlike fortune teller of the Afterlife
• Lady Von Zaro:  "Sister" to Raa-em

Summary

If you missed our last adventure, you can find the summary here.

Tracking down the Nano that the party still believed to be Chase Rombek proved fairly straightforward.  Luckily for the group of numenera hunters, massive, hulking, kaiju-sized Varjellen were easy to track.  Somewhere deep within the eastern hills of Draolis Chase/Raa-em was discovered sitting in a field, having just finished a long conversation with the ancient astronaut.  Chase/Raa-em didn't seem interested in sharing his findings, and no one in the party pried.

The trip back to Qi took nearly a month as the band leisurely stopped from village to village gathering information about potential caches of numenera.  Upon returning to the big city, the decision was made to establish a new base of operations.  Given the party's recent negative dealings with the Marish Clan, the rich coastal city of Mulen, located only a few hours south of Qi, seemed promising.  It took Takkorek less than an hour to charter a fast-moving catamaran that could make the journey.

Captain Modorianna was a no nonsense sailor who didn't seem all too interested in making friends.  Her craft was a beast-sailed catamaran; the sail itself was a massive, flat, bird/flish eating, bioengineered creature.  Halfway between Qi and Mulen the ship hit a bump in the water.  Captain Modorianna just figured that it was a drit-reef, and didn't bother to look back at her passengers.  This meant the captain didn't see Chase/Raa-em take a tumble into the dark and unforgiving waves.  

The mystical nano wasn't concerned at first.  Raa-em was in control, and could easily hover up and out of the water.  While the nano pondered what to do next, a large form appeared just below the waterline.  Ralyx noticed the incident, as well as the massive, uncoiling tentacle.  The Mlox grabbed a belaying pin, and threw it at the form, but this didn't stop the tentacle from grabbing Chase/Raa-em, pulling him below the waves.  To everyone on board the ship now witnessing this event, it appeared that Chase/Raa-em was trying to breathe underwater, taking in large mouthfuls of salty death. 

But for Raa-em the encounter was serene.  He wasn't in the ocean, but rather in a beautiful field of grass and wheat.  There was a cottage nearby, the aroma of baking bread filling the air. 

Raa-em didn't like cottages.  The nano called upon one of his esoteries to destroy the structure.  But this only served to wipe away the surrounding imagery, and bring on a new picture.  This time Raa-em was on a beach with a mug full of cold brew.  Before he could truly enjoy the new scenery, the nano realized that he was in the water, drowning.  The tentacle had pulled away, and was getting sucked back into a cave below.  It turned out that despite the nano's tendency to cause pain to the rest of the party, they didn't want him dead.  Glyquorg had jumped into the water and attacked the tentacle directly while Jak and Ralyx peppered the limb with arrows and random thrown objects.  Using his hover esotery, Raa-em pulled himself out of the water and released all of the water from his lungs.

Chase/Raa-em was very agitated by the tentacle attack, as it had blocked a message that he was receiving once he touched the water.  Hoping to get the "signal" back, Chase/Raa-em put his hand in the water and received the following message from… somewhere… : 

"Greetings, master of mind and matter,

I, your former mate in gestation hope to find you well and further enlightened.
I have discovered something extraordinary.  An Afterlife, the afterlife with such joy and happiness that I should never want again. Such joy… such... happiness I will forever be satisfied... perhaps you will too.

I discovered it, just off the coast at the following coordinates [star chart included.]

Below the waves, you will find it.  I beg for you to come... and bring strong souls, with heart and conviction, for those are the kind I like the best.

I look forward to meeting with you again.


Your Dearest Sister"

According to Chase/Raa-em, the signal was over three-hundred years old, and was being transported by the water itself.  In the imagery that the nano received was a star chart.  Chase/Raa-em described the scene to Ralyx, who used some of his strange and eccentric skill suites to craft a crude astrolabe and sextant.  Using the devices, Ralyx was able to determine that the location Raa-em was describing was north, in the center of Ryness Bay just off the coast of Navarene.  

Offered several pieces of numenera by her passengers, Captain Modorianna finally agreed to transport the team to their destination.  With her swift moving craft, it was only a thirty-hour journey to the bay.  Once they arrived, the party realized that they had traveled somewhere special.

Despite the new morning light, the team of numenera hunters were able to make out a strange, bright glow beneath the waves.  At least seventy or eighty feet down, something filled the water with a soft, constant glow.  Captain Modorianna gave the party three, numenera-enhanced snorkeling tubes that would allow the users to travel down at least one-hundred feet beneath the waves.  Chase/Raa-em was definitely going, with Glyquorg and Jak offering to dive as well.  The trip down was amazing!  As the three divers approached the source of the glow, they started to make out an incredible scene.  A twelve foot wide glow rested on the bottom of the bay, and at the center of the globe was a brilliant landscape surrounding a massive stone keep.  

Upon closer inspection the globe was attached to a large, fifty foot long metal and synth body.  Chase/Raa-em scanned the form and realized that this "thing" was a construct called a "Latos".  Chase/Raa-em knew that his kin had to be on the other side of the sphere, so he reached out to touch the Lato's head.  Instantly the nano was teleported elsewhere.  

Glyquorg and Jak quickly swam to the surface and relayed the story back to the rest of the group.  Takkorek was interested in following Chase/Raa-em, but didn't want to touch the Latos' head.  Instead the Slacker Nano tried to open a portal between the catamaran and the interior of the Latos' head.  It took every ounce of energy that the nano had to create the wormhole, but with a loud scream Takkorek succeeded… only to be blasted with a brilliant light.  The nano jumped through the portal, followed by the rest of the team.  Only Captain Modorianna stayed behind.

Once through, the entire band of numenera hunters began to feel the same pain as Takkorek.  The landscape was idyllic and serene.  There was a village nearby, with old-fashioned buildings, thatch roofs, and seemingly normal townsfolk.  On a hill several miles away was an enormous, monolithic keep.  But none of these views seemed to gain the interest of the party, as they were all too busy rolling around on the ground in agony!

Despite this realm lacking a sun of any sort, there was a blinding light flooding the entire field on which the party lay.  The "Brilliance" was not necessarily burning the flesh, rather it was disassembling it, breaking it down through some other means.  Chase/Raa-em lay on the ground writhing, but the rest of the team wasn't going to wait for death.  Grabbing their nano, everyone took for the woods to the south.  

Once in the forest, the shade from the pine trees muted the Brilliance's reach.  Electing Ralyx to take the lead, the party decided to continuing exploring this new realm, under the protective canopy of the pines.  Reaching another clearing, Ralyx went into stealth mode and crept forward.  There was an odd buzzing ahead, and the Mlox Jack didn't want to give away the party's position.  Reaching an open field Ralyx saw a stone pathway, leading from a bridge to the northeast, and continuing west, possibly towards the monolithic keep.  In the center of the path there were three crystalline giants, each standing at least ten feet tall.  The constructs were completely clear, but their "insides" were formed and powered by millions of buzzing insects.  Ralyx tried buzzing in return.  Although appearing somewhat threatening, the three constructs were performing repair work on the road.  Ralyx decided to choose another path, and returned to the rest of the party to report.

The Mlox had no sooner returned when a dozen rat-sized, ant-like insects crawled out from the trees.  The creatures announced themselves as La Dama, a hive-mind fortune teller that inhabited the forest.  La Dama revealed to Ralyx that "she" had heard the Mlox's buzzing, and that he must have known the words of her kind, for he spoke them perfectly.  La Dama offered to tell the fortune of anyone in the party, for a small price: a bone.  The bone would have to come from the one wanting the fortune, however.  No one seemed too interested in surrendering a digit, and La Dama was about ready to open another line of questions when she hissed.

"She comes!" La Dama whispered.  

A voice then called out from all around the party.  "Brother… where are you brother?" the voice repeated.  

An inky black mass rose up from the ground.  The form introduced itself as "Lady Von Zaro", sibling to the entity known as Raa-em.  Raa-em was absolutely delighted at this opportunity to connect with someone from his past, especially another ancient who had formed as he had.  Lady Von Zaro chit-chatted with the party for a few moments before moaning about how hungry she was.  

It was then that the inky creature attacked!

The amorphous shadow stretched out with long, whiplike strands of ink, splashing against the cloth and armor of Chase/Raa-em, Takkorek, and Garren.  Glyquorg barely dodged one of the impossibly fast black cords.  When struck, the afflicted individual groaned in absolute agony, realizing only a few moments later that one of their emotions was completely gone.  The Lady was feeding on the party, but wasn't consuming flesh or blood, but rather feelings.  Making matters worse was Raa-em.  The leaching entity that had gained control of Chase Rombek joined in his sister's bloodlust, turning to Jack to tear him open with an esotery.  Once Lady Von Zaro had taken several "bites" she disappeared…

… and with her Raa-em.  

When Chase was struck by a strand, the effect severed the connection between the psychic parasite and the mystical nano.  Chase was finally free.  

Quotes

"Just to clarify Jim, is Frank in the water because something hit the boat, or did we hit Frank?" - Jeremy wasn't sure about Jim's description.

Marc - "But he [Craig] saw me throwing something right?" 
Jim - "He saw you angrily throwing a belaying pin into the water, at Frank."
Andy - "I clap." 

"Eh… they got it… " - Takkorek woke up and noticed the party was struggling to keep Chase/Raa-em alive.  Then he went back to sleep.

"Where'd the beach go!" - Chase/Raa-em was quite surprised when he was dragged out of the water.

"Once we get there, just imagine wealth, riches, gold beyond your imagination!" - Garren to Modorianna, trying the hard sell.

"She's a woman sailor, I'm offering her cosmetics and flying fish, what more does she need!?!" - Frank.  My wife Jen overheard this comment and said "no deal".  

"Marc is a friend of the insect world!" - Frank references a really old inside joke… long story.

"What if I give you some of my friend's bones." - Ralyx wasn't about to give up his own.

Campaign Notes

If you've stuck with this blog this far, you can see that I've made quite a few changes to the traditional Ravenloft adventure.  I always felt that in Ravenloft the players would come to fear the night, however in Rasterperch Keep it is the "daylight" and the Brilliance that should bring fear and trepidation.  I'm excited to reveal more about Lady Von Zaro, the people of this … place… and the history of Rasterperch Keep, but that shall be saved for future posts!

I don't want to reveal too much about the custom mechanics just yet, but I'm happy to share the following house rules and custom creations from Tuesday's game!

• Tentacle Creature
• Level 6
• Level 5 Initiative and Speed Defense
• 30 Health
• Armor 3 (Water Armor 2)
• Mind affecting tentacle, Intellect Defense roll, Difficulty 7, or the target believes to be transported somewhere pleasant.  Immediately drop one step on the damage track every three rounds should the character be submerged.
• The Brilliance
• Level 5 hazard
• Exposure requires Might Defense roll or take 6 points of Might damage

Zero to Sixty - Running Edge of the Empire Twice in One Day

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."