Send me on my way

The party boards the YT-1250, uneasy about how their time on Ord Mantell ended.  The Nikto stow their gear and man their stations.  Thana fires up the engines and the Mitochondria finally lifts off out of docking bay Epsilon 12.

Thana pilots the craft low out of Fort Garnik to avoid the electronic eyes in the C2 tower on the west side town.  She flies out over the familiar terrain that leads into the foothills, over the stream and up the hillside past the scene of the battle at the bunker.  The Mitochondria raises its nose towards the clouds and rockets up into space.

Stars fill the windows as the tiny ships pulls out of the planet's gravity well.

A proximity alarm sounds.  Lights flash in the hallways.



Thana calls out, "You guys better get up here!"

Daxx rushes to the cockpit.

Sharn strolls up to the cockpit, sipping on some Earl Grey tea. He yawns. "Shnurflar rargruffin?" {What seems to be the matter?}

Tson moves immediately to a bunk upon boarding the craft, hoping to spend a few minutes of meditation gathering his thoughts and recovering from the chaos on the docks. The last few days of negative, chaotic thoughts , heaped upon the residual exhaustion from his time spent under siege on Ord Mandell have left him stretched thin.

The proximity alarm jolts him from his light trance, and his bloodshot eyes snap open. His jaw clenched, and head aching in a slow, brutal cadence, he makes his way to the cockpit.

The party can see a small space battle raging above Ord Mantell.  There are about a dozen freighters and small frigates fighting against a single Republic Hammerhead Cruiser.  



Daxx recognizes several of the freighters as belonging to captains loyal to Soren.  This rag tag fleet made up Soren's pirating and smuggling fleet.  They must have been enforcing the blockade from space.



The smaller freighters are swarming the Hammerhead, but doing little real damage.  

The Hammerhead hails your ship and Daxx hears a familiar voice on the comm channel,



"I am Jedi Master Duros Kunn of the Republic Cruiser, Valiant.  Unidentified YT-1250, please reply."

Daxx will answer, "Master, it's Daxx, I and several companions are trying to leave the planet."

Master Duros replies, "Daxx! Thank the Force, you are alive.  I feared the worst when we lost contact.  I should have trusted that the Force would guide you.  Two small shuttles escaped Ord Mantell several hours ago.  They reported the situation and I was sent here with the Valiant to break the blockade and begin landing our forces at Fort Garnik.  Ord Mantell won't be won overnight, but it won't be lost today either.  Thank your companions for me, you have all done a great service for the Republic this day.  Come find me here when your mission is complete, I have a feeling this will take me a while."

The party can hear weapons and shield officers barking orders on the bridge of the Valiant.

"I must keep my concentration in the moment.  May the Force guide you, all of you.  Duros out."



Thana is able to avoid the fight and get clear of Ord Mantell.  Within moments the stars turn into long streamers of light and the Mitochondria is flying through the tunnel of hyperspace.  Thana breathes a sigh of relief and asks, "where are we taking our... guests?"

"whewww.  Glad that's over.  I'll go talk to Bru'en and see what we can arrange.  Nice flying by the way"

...by the way, thanks for getting a damned Rusted Root hippie song stuck in my head! (gonna have to scrub it clean with Slayer or something)

Rakhu examines the gunnery post.  (Or is it pilot operated?)  Just to prepare for any future excitement.  Then he will find daxx.  "I need to fill you in on the mission...i have information from your order."

He will not do this near bre'un

Daxx will cock an eyebrow... "you have news from my order?"

"The mission is twofold. The primary mission is important, protect the scientists and sort out their wildlife troubles, but it is a cover for others. There have been various artifacts turning up," he mouths the word (sith). "Collect them and track their source, but do not attempt to study them on your own. The council will study them."

Daxx's face darkens... "great! one problem after another. Damned Sith." He spits at the mention.

Great roleplaying Al and Josh!

Daxx knows that Duros is considered something of an expert on Ancient Sith artifacts, like 1000s of years old stuff from old moldy tombs. Daxx recalls some of Duros' stories of exploring Sith tombs in his younger days. His knowledge of the Sith is one of things that has kept him in the council's better graces despite his 'unorthodox' tactics (like going undercover with Daxx and infiltrating a crimelords operations).

I think Rakhu got the story straight, though I would remind everyone that protecting the scientists is the means to the end: Republic support from the Kaminioains. Dr. Helian, while respected and well-known, is not the prize, the Kaminioains are what is important and Helian works for them.

or to put it in meta-game terms:

Helian and the Kaminoains are the Republic goal, which affects the balance of the galaxy

The Sith artifacts are the personal-story level goal, since we have a Jedi and a Sith spy hunter.

The rampaging monsters are the personal-story tie-in goal for safari Rakhu and beast-wrestler Sharn.


I will explain this concept a bit more in the Epilogue to Chapter 1

navyik wrote:Rakhu examines the gunnery post. (Or is it pilot operated?) Just to prepare for any future excitement. Then he will find daxx. "I need to fill you in on the mission...i have information from your order."

1 forward fixed gun, can be pilot controlled or from co-pilot seat in the cockpit

Chris wrote:
Thana is able to avoid the fight and get clear of Ord Mantell.  Within moments the stars turn into long streamers of light and the Mitochondria is flying through the tunnel of hyperspace.  Thana breathes a sigh of relief and asks, "where are we taking our... guests?"

navyik wrote:
He will not do this near bre'un

speaking of which.... what are you guys going to do with Bre'un and Del.  Del has been asleep in his quarters the whole time.  Bre'un mostly stays in there, unless he comes out to get water or something.

He had asked to be dropped on Dantooine if you are heading to the Core Worlds or on any neutral planet if you are going to the outer rim.

Kintan is in Hutt space, so everything there is "neutral" compared to the Sith\Pub cold war.   (Nal'hutta, Nar Shadda, Tatooine, Kintan, Kessel, etc etc)

"I need to speak with our guest, he may look mean, but I've a feeling that he'll be ok as long as we guarantee his son's safety and get them somewhere safe. How far out of our way is Dantooine, Thana?"

whit10 wrote:"I need to speak with our guest,  he may look mean, but I've a feeling that he'll be ok as long as we guarantee his son's safety and get them somewhere safe.  How far out of our way is Dantooine, Thana?"

Thana raises an eyebrow, "Not much of a traveler, eh? Dantooine is towards the Core, so..... the opposite direction. We are heading to the outer rim, to Hutt controlled space. Your Republic doesn't exist out there. Luckily the Sith have shown little interest either."

"Sorry sweetheart, I fly things, I deal with gangsters and thugs and I get into a lot of fights... never been much of star chart geek."

Go talk to Bru'en next to see if we can accommodate him.. and see if I can get some more info from him.

The Mitochondira races through Hyperspace on route to Kintan deep in Hutt Space. The ride will take about 12 hours, not including a stop off somewhere for Bre'un.

Bre'un and Del stay in their quarters for several hours. The party goes back to their stated intentions before the space battle.

Somewhere in the middle of the flight, after at least 6-8 hours, you find Bre’un sitting at the mess-hall table. He has a half empty bottle of Mantellian whiskey. He looks lost in thought.

*** GM - Let me know if your character wants to be present for a brief chat with Bre'un and hear his backstory. We are just about to wrap up chapter 1   ****

He would like to be but don't let me slow down the story or anything. I'm all about the moving on if that's what you want to do.

Sharn will wander into the mess hall, with Irwin in tow. He makes some coffee and munches on some spacetries (space pastries). Sitting at a table by the window, he reads from his newest issue of Galaxy Geographic. Despite the many pictures of barely-clothed native folk, he reads it for the articles, honest!

lol

**I got an email from Alan that he is just really busy, so since we are just wrapping things up here, I am going to go ahead and finish the chapter, so you guys can work on your characters over the weekend, if you want***

Chris wrote:
Somewhere in the middle of the flight, after at least 6-8 hours, you find Bre’un sitting at the mess-hall table.  He has a half empty bottle of Mantellian whiskey.  He looks lost in thought.

Bre'un continues to drink his Mantellian whiskey and tells the story of his life with Jayne:

“We met on Korriban.  We were both acolytes, training to become Sith."  








"The trials there are not like the Jedi.  An entire class competes to become the apprentice of a single Sith Lord.  By the end of the trials, only 1 acolyte survives.  If the trials themselves don’t kill you, the remaining acolytes must fight each other.  Jayne and I fell in love before our trials began, just during our training time.  

She was different back then.  Beautiful, full of life…. Not the way you saw her today.  (actual Calamity Jane actress)



We helped each other with our training and then through the trials, at first, it was working out.  But soon it was down to just us and a  Pureblood Sith named Faun.  



He was cruel and he was stronger than either of us in the Force.  Our passion gave us strength, but if we killed Faun together…. Like I said, only 1 acolyte survives.”

Bre’un takes a long drink. “That’s when Jayne told me that was carrying a child, our child.  Little Delez would have been born to the Sith.  His only future was to train as an acolyte and hope to survive the trials.”

Bre’un sighs deeply, “So we came upon a plan.  We staged our own deaths and escaped from Korriban.  I have heard it is easier to escape from the prison-world of Belsavis, but we did it.  We disappeared on Ord Mantell with my sister and Faun became Darth Tenebrous’ new apprentice.  The Master of Shadows.... I don't know who ended up with a worse fate.”





Bre’un takes another drink and continues his story, “Time passed and we…. Grew apart.  I fell in with gangs and Jayne took to drink.  That was no life for Del.  Jayne wanted him to go to the Jedi for training.  Ha!  The Jedi would have expelled us both, just for falling in love.  They are more lost than the Sith….  And they will lose this war.  Passion does give you strength, it is not a failing to love.  My love for Del gives me more power and peace than anything in the galaxy.”

Bre’un puts the bottle down, “I better go check on the boy.  Just wake us when we reach.... whereever you are dropping us off.”  Bre’un leaves the mess hall without a further word.

after a few more hours of hypespace flight, the Mitochondria arrives at Nal Hutta.  Thana decided (since no one else did) that this was the most direct drop-off spot, with the most space-ports.

Nal Hutta is a toxic wasteland of a planet that the Hutt Cartels call home.  However, there are many space ports and ships leaving for all corners of the galaxy on a daily basis.







Bre’un holds Del's hand as they walk out of their room.  Del stares straight forward, his jaws clenched as if holding words back.  Del stops at the top of the ramp.  Bre'un tugs on his arm, as if to keep him moving.  Del pulls his hand free and turns back to face the party.  "My mother trusted you to help her."  His eyes go cold, “I hate you, all of you"  the last part said to his father.

Bre’un kneels down next to his son.  He smiles lovingly at Del, “Good.  Your hatred will make you powerful.”  

Del and Bre’un walk down the ramp of the Mitochondria and into the dusty streets of Nal Hutta.

The remainder of the hyperspace flight to Kintan is mostly uneventful.  In a quiet moment Daxx and Sharn share a vision in the Force, perhaps from Daxx's Farseeing on Ord Mantell.



Daxx sees the Nikto Seer from his first vision.  The Nikto Seer is standing in the control room of the C2 tower in Fort Garnik.  Daxx wonders what would have happened if they chose the C2 tower path instead of going for guns.

The Nikto Seer is watching a small ship leave Fort Garnik.  Daxx sees out the tower window from the Nikto’s perspective, he is watching the Mitochondria as it left.

The Nikto then leaves the C2 tower, as if following a trail in the Force.  He goes through town and Daxx recognizes the path as their own out to the gun site.  The Seer walks about the battle scene as if reliving the fight.  The Seer then walks over to the cliff’s edge.  Again Daxx sees from his perspective as he looks down into the rocky gulch.  It seems like he is searching for something…. Searching….. then his gaze comes to rest on the broken body of the Trandoshan that Sharn dropped over the side.  The Seer’s studies the still body.  Suddenly the Trandoshan’s eyelid opens, his slitted eye narrows in the sunlight.  With all his remaining strength the Trandoshan lifts a mangled hand and beckons to the unknown Nikto on the ridge.

Daxx watches the Seer use the Force to lift the broken body of the Trandoshan out of the gulch.  The vision begins to fade away, but not before Sharn sees the Seer kneel down and lay healing hands on the Trandoshan.  The last thing Daxx and Sharn hear is the Trandoshan faintly swear to his god, the Scorekeeper, “By Zhaitan, I will find that Wookie.”

Chapter 1 is complete.

You guys did a great job, especially with the roleplaying!

Including the Prologue XP, everyone has enough to advance 2 levels.  We ARE going to use the PF feat progression chart, so go ahead and make all adjustments over the next couple days.

I wanted to explain, now that it is over, how I am going to run a certain aspect of the SW story.  In each chapter, there will be a Republic part or mission to accomplish.  It is, of course, up to you if you choose to do this.  But the party's success in their Republic mission will determine how the Republic does against the Sith, in that particular theater of operations.  The cumulative effect of (hopefully) several missions will sway the war effort one way or the other.  In this way, the party has some influence over the course of the galactic scale conflict, while performing their local missions.

So for instance on Ord Mantell, you had 3 Republic choices:

1 - just leave the planet
2 - take out the guns, to clear a small path
3 - capture the C2 tower and control all of Fort Garnik

obviously the tasks got harder and more time consuming.  the party chose #2 because you wanted to get off world quickly.   the party's choice is totally fine and was done in character.

Like Duros said, Ord Mantell was neither won nor lost today.  If you chose #1 and just ran, Ord Mantell would have fallen to the Warlords, since no word would have reached the Republic.  If you chose the longer #3, the Republic would have been able to quickly retake Ord Mantell.  By choosing #2 and getting those wounded Republic soldiers off world first, they got word to the Republic who sent Master Duros and the cruiser Valiant to begin landing small commando groups to retake Fort Garnik, then eventually a larger scale landing, when they own the Fort.

I know it is not 100% logical, but it is more about the mechanic of what the party does influences the larger war effort.

I will always try to have character-level parts of the story and character-missions in each Chapter.  Sometimes those will tie into the Republic mission, sometimes not.

Feel free to ask questions or discuss. It is not a perfect system and this is the first time I have run something like it, so bear with me

I will get the Opening crawl for Chapter 2 up hopefully before the holiday weekend is over. I am not going to worry about starting Kintan until Tue at the earliest, if ever gets their "level-up" work done. If it takes longer, no worries.

Great story!

And a thoughtful round-up. It helps to see how the actions of our characters affect the bigger-picture.

 

To Sharn, "Damn! Kinda figured that guy woulda just made a good pair of boots right now. Keep a weather eye Sharn." he smiles grimly as he goes to rest and contemplate (and add levels!)

Awesome start Chris! Really enjoyed this so far.

Not sure i understand how to apply pf feat progression to sw. Didnt realize it was different. 

It might not make any difference for you Alan. I looked at mine, and so far it didn't change what I started with. It will from now on, but I only get two more by 10 level or something like that.

whit10 wrote:It might not make any difference for you Alan.  I looked at mine, and so far it didn't change what I started with.  It will from now on, but I only get two more by 10 level or something like that.

But i dont even know what to look for...

Pathfinder gives you a feat at each odd numbered level. Just look at the feat progression chart on Pg. 36 in the SW core book. So far, I don't think you need to change anything that you started with, you might get a bonus feat out of it though since we went up 2 levels.

SW and D&D 3.5 does Feats at
1,3,6,9,12,15

PF does feats at
1,3,5,7,9,11,13,15

so, really no change at this time, but you will get an extra feat at 7th

it isn't a big deal, but it helps for chains like Dodge-mobility-spring attack, for instance or when you get a bonus class feat that has some other pre-req feats.

I see it now, thanks.  

yer welcome. It's a moderate gain. It helps the other non-combat classes more than Soldiers and other combat types.

hey guys - great wrap up! Sorry I wasn't able to contribute- I pulled a 15 hour shift yesterday. I'll do my best to keep up, but this week is going to be brutal. Working on labor day, and the 8th and 9th will likely be 16+ hour days.

if I get off at a reasonable hour tonight, I'll update Tson and be good to go.

howdy matt!

no worries, I have had 2 sick boys at home since Friday. Josh and I are at our annual State conference from Sun 8th - tue 10th, so my posting will be limited too, early next week.

If we can get going on Chapter 2 tue\wed this week, great, if not, no worries.

Reread Bre's story...

Sharn is uncomfortable with the knowledge that Del and the Trando want him harmed. Secretly, he is delighted the trando lived, so that now he can again enjoy throwing the scum from some precarious ledge.

The wookie also plots with Irwin to have Del shot out of the airlock.

Robyo wrote:Reread Bre's story...

Sharn is uncomfortable with the knowledge that Del and the Trando want him harmed. Secretly, he is delighted the trando lived, so that now he can again enjoy throwing the scum from some precarious ledge.

The wookie also plots with Irwin to have Del shot out of the airlock.

understandable concerns for the wookie, however

Chris wrote:
Bre’un kneels down next to his son. He smiles lovingly at Del, “Good. Your hatred will make you powerful.”

Del and Bre’un walk down the ramp of the Mitochondria and into the dusty streets of Nal Hutta.

they are gone. they were dropped off on Nal Hutta just after Del's statements. but you may run into them again

Oops. I tend to get confused when there's a lot of storyline to read through. I like the story, but there's definitely a lot to remember and pay attention to. Play-by-post is much different than tabletop. Usually it's just, "where's the bad guy? What's my initiative? Roll!" and I'm good. On this forum, there's much more to keep track of. But that's okay


Sooo, I take it we're taking a break from SW? Josh's campaign is next, whenever that starts up. With char gen still in effect, we're looking at a good month off or so from gaming.

It's alright, I'm just making sure.

Having just spent the last couple days with Josh, he is really not ready to start.

So, we will continue with Star Wars until Josh is ready!

I have plenty of material and I enjoy running the SW universe. I will be happy for a break whenever Josh is ready with his game or Rob gets his internet back and wants to run Primal planet, whatever.

Everyone should get their +2 levels done for SW, so we can get rolling.

I never tried to suggest otherwise. I said all along that I needed time to work some things out with this world and campaign. Another month is much appreciated!

I'm pretty sure that Daxx is done with leveling

Sorry for the delay guys, my schedule is brutal. Hoping to to catch a break in the next few days and get Tson updated.